Retro Forum

Ah, Bosconian. One of those love it or hate it type titles, though I kinda stand in the former, 'cause it's a fun arcade game. [Now, I've only played this game on Namco Museum Vol. 1 (PSX, 1995) and Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Collection (GC, 2005)]This obscure 1981 Namco arcade game has you control a fighter ship that vaguely resembles that of the one from Galaga, Namco's other arcade shooter that was released in the same year. With that detail alone, you'd think Bosconian would be the spin-off to the Galaxy line up of shooters, but that's not the case entirely. Yes, this game is a shooter, but in this case you have the freedom to move in all eight directions and shoot anything in your path. What's great about this game is that not only can you shoot in front of you, but at the same time you can shoot behind you as well. Adds lots of strategy to it when it comes waves of alien beings or asteroids. But, I know what you're thinking: "What's the plot? What's the object of the game?" Well, you are sent into the galaxies to thwartt off enemies while trying to destroy enemy bases. The more stages you progress, the more difficult it will get and the more enemy bases there are to destroy. Are you ready to "Blast Off!!!" into space and act as the evil's bane? I really enjoy this game, and I like how there's no timer and it also gets challenging later on, which scores brownie points from me. Also, who doesn't like Namco's first attempt at making voice samples? Another great Namco game (of many).Peace!